Weeping Willow
Logan and Wheeler must determine if a kidnapping depicted on an Internet video was an actual event, and figure out how to find the alleged victim. Plot In what appears to be an Internet vlog, a teenage girl nicknamed "WeepingWillow17" and her boyfriend Holden (Michael Goduti) are interrupted when two men in masks storm into the room and apparently kidnap them on-camera. Detectives Logan and Wheeler begin investigating the so-called "cyber-kidnapping", which they and the public suspect could be an Internet Hoax. Eventually, the supposed kidnappers release an online video with Willow and Holden tied up, claiming they will kill them both if 100,000 people do not purchase their online videos for $1.99 each within 48 hours. The news media covers the story, and speculates on the possibility that it is a hoax. Eventually, a video is released in which Willow provides her real name, Lisa Willow Tyler, as proof that she is real. Logan and Wheeler visit her parents, who are elderly farmers that believe Willow is doing charity work in Africa; the police learn Willow has lied to her family and tried to achieve Internet fame to escape her dull life. Wheeler suggests responding to the kidnappers "on their own turf" via a video blog. In response to Wheeler's video, the kidnappers make another vlog and cut off Holden's ear on-camera to prove they are serious. Although the ear is mailed to forensics and proven to be real, police quickly discover that Willow and Holden placed an online advertisement seeking actors to play kidnapper roles; they soon identify actor Reggie Luckman as one of the kidnappers in the WeepingWillow17 videos. Yet another vlog is released, this time with Holden escaping his bonds and shooting one of the kidnappers, before being shot himself by Reggie. Police come to the scene and find Holden alive, along with the dead body of one of the supposed kidnappers named Todd. Holden insisted the on-camera shooting was fake, and that Reggie shot Todd over a dispute over money after the video was filmed. Holden says the kidnapping videos started as a hoax, but that Reggie has now actually kidnapped Willow. Additional live WeepingWillow17 videos are shown online, which police trace to a van in Union Square, where they find Willow and arrest Reggie. During interrogation, Reggie says he did not know Todd was really dead; he insists he fired a prop gun with blanks to scare Holden into splitting the money from the videos with them. Police soon learn the wadding from a blank was accidentally fired into Todd, and a horrified Reggie faces manslaughter charges. Willow, claiming to have simply been seeking fame as an actress, is released without criminal charges. The episode ends with Logan and Wheeler watching a video of Larry King interviewing Willow on a giant screen in Times Square. Cast Main cast * Chris Noth as Detective Mike Logan * Julianne Nicholson as Detective Megan Wheeler * Eric Bogosian as Captain Danny Ross Guest cast * Michelle Trachtenberg as Lisa Willow Tyler * Michael Goduti as Holden Foster * Pedro Pascal as Reggie Luckman * Leslie Hendrix as Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers * Neal Jones as Chief of Detectives Bradshaw * Julie McNiven as Suzie Waller * Gary Patent as Ira Whipple * Chet Carlin as Frank Tyler * Kate Weiman as Jean Tyler * Nance Williamson as Rosalie Palmer * Brian Slaten as Mr. Lore * Pat Murphy as Dawn Condor * John Wu as Miles * Clifford Endo Gulibert as Bob * Aya Cash as Lori * Trevor Oswalt as Todd * Wallace Shawn as Film Professor * Cinqué Lee as Holden's Classmate * Larry King as Himself * Tracey Conyer Lee as Reporter #1 * Paul Juhn as Reporter #2 * James Ball as Reporter #3 * Sherman Alpert as Man in Park * Jessica Williams as Tasha (uncredited) References YouLenz, CNN, WeepingWillow17, FreeWillow17, Elmira, New York Film Academy, Rescuing Rita, Union Square Quotes :Logan and Ross watch the vlog kidnapping :Logan: What the hell was that? :Ross: We may have just witnessed the first cyber-kidnapping. :the vlog kidnapping :Ross: You think it's real? :Logan: I don't know. Gimme a body with some blood on it at a crime scene, I'm a happy camper. Background information and notes This episode is a reference to the YouTube character "Lonelygirl15". Lonelygirl15 was a fully planned out YouTube series that ended with its main character being kidnapped by a cult, and later died due to blood lost in a ritual. She became famous on YouTube, but later fell from grace after the series started getting more "soap opera" like. Which is reason to believe that Lonelygirl15 inspired this episode. Category:CI episodes